Trump taps Hegseth, veteran and Fox News host, to head DOD

President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Pete Hegseth, an activist veteran and longtime Fox News host, to be the next secretary of Defense.

“Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Trump said in a statement on social media Tuesday evening. “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”

Hegseth served in the Army in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has been a co-host on “Fox & Friends Weekend” since 2016, according to his biography on LinkedIn.

Hegseth previously led two veterans advocacy groups, Concerned Veterans of America and Vets for Freedom. And he worked at a pair of think tanks, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and the Center of the American Experiment.